Therapy can help meh?

According to the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016, the treatment delay for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an average of 11 years. That means that from the time of the onset of symptoms to seeking professional help for those struggling with OCD, it can take up to a decade to seek professional treatment!

There are many myths and hesitations surrounding seeking help through therapy. Some think that therapy is a quick fix to the problems they have and expect therapists to give all the answers and solutions. Others think that it is like talking to a friend. Below, we outline three large areas which may prevent one from seeking therapy support for their mental health.  

1. Fear and Shame:

While Singapore’s society has slowly viewed mental health in a more positive light, there are still negative stigmas associated with having mental illness such as being labelled as “crazy” or “a freak”. Many may also have concerns that making their mental illness known to their employer may negatively impact their career or other life goals.

The idea of self-reliance is also common, and many believe that they should be able to handle things on their own, and if they need assistance, they are weak and inferior, leading to feelings of inadequacy too. This is not the case as mental illness can affect anyone!

There is also a fear that therapy will not help improve their condition or talking to therapists are like talking to friends. However, recovery depends on the severity and complexity of an individual’s situation, even with therapy. Therapists are also not akin to talking to friends – often they are able to provide insights to thoughts and behaviours and teach clients more about their current feelings. Clients can also give feedback on whether the therapist is being helpful and have a say in their recovery journey.

2. Lack of Knowledge:

The lack of understanding of mental health conditions can lead to treatment delays, until it becomes too severe. Early intervention is important when seeking professional help. Hence, knowing some basic signs on when one should seek help is important. These can be broken down into feelings, thoughts, and behaviours.

Feelings: Constantly feeling sad, anxious, guilty, hopeless, overly exhausted, overwhelmed, or worried.

Thoughts: Thinking that life is too hard and that you are unable to cope, that there is no way out of the difficult situation, or that you are useless, and things will never get better.

Behaviours: low motivation and energy, loss of interest in engaging activities, lacking sleep, eating less or overeating, having impulsivity such as turning to drugs/alcohol and having difficulty focusing and remembering things.

However, knowing these signs are not enough as everyone will experience such feelings at some point in their life. Therefore, some other factors that should be taken note of are: when these signs have persisted for several weeks, feelings become distressful and affect day-to-day functioning, or if there are suicidal ideations.

Secondly, there is also a lack of knowledge on available treatment. Some are also unaware of the several types of treatment available and where to seek treatment from. There are also various modalities and approaches in which therapists use – but the most common is cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). A simple online search can allow you to read up more about different modalities and their effectiveness.

3. Issue of accessibility:

Some barriers to access therapy treatment include the financial ability and scheduling. Therapy can be expensive especially at private clinics, and there is a long waiting time at government services. Sometimes, therapy can conflict with school or work schedules which can prevent someone from engaging in treatment.

However, there is an increasing allowance for therapy treatments to be counted under medical leave and flexible work arrangements. There are also affordable therapy services through Singapore’s public healthcare system, and social service agencies. One can also use MediSave for mental health treatments too.

Thus, it is good to receive therapy, especially if you are struggling with your mental health. Some benefits include the reduction in overall mental health symptoms, better management of stressors with helpful and adaptive coping methods and better quality of life.

How to encourage others to seek help:

Perhaps you know of someone who needs to seek professional support for their mental health and would like to encourage them to seek help.

Firstly, it is important to be supportive, present, and non-judgmental when checking in on them. Secondly, the time and place of our conversations with them should be carefully selected, such as having a quiet place when talking about their struggles. Thirdly, being prepared for resistance will be helpful as there are times when a struggling person may reject the care offered to them due to feelings of inadequacy. To prepare for resistance, you can follow the (LEAP) approach: Listening, Empathizing, Agreeing and Partnership. In particular, to agree is to find a common ground on what you can talk about, and partnership is to offer help, such as going to the clinic with them, and show them that they are not alone throughout the process of seeking help for their mental health.

Having gone through these tips on encouraging others to seek help, I feel that primarily, one should recognise one’s own position and ability to guide someone through seeking help and not feel bad or pressured into doing it. After all, as peers we have our own limitations too. Simply offering a prayer for them or being a quiet presence to them can also help them know that they are not alone.

As said by Elizabeth who struggled with depression and complex trauma in Clarity Singapore’s World Mental Health Day workshop in 2021: “Therapy helps you listen to yourself and recognize any destructive behaviour patterns if it is present, taking concrete steps to take control of your own life and change areas in your life to a healthier one. An analogy on seeking therapy would be, if the problems were like a forest than counselling is identifying the individual trees and chopping them down one by one, distilling huge components to manageable ones and working on them one by one.”

 

About the writer:

Bertilla is a food lover, who likes to go café hopping. She loves to be around children and has worked with children in her parish and on mission trips. She is passionate about advocating for the deaf and dementia communities and is actively working with these communities. The bible verse that she lives by is “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” – 2 Timothy 1:7